Cable access beyond the hype: On residential broadband data services over HFC networks

Current efforts in digital data transmission over hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) networks will provide an efficient data transport mechanism for the "last mile" to residential users and will enable a very large number of services to the home. Provision of these services requires a complete end-to-end network architecture that provides an efficient connection between the server and the end user. Thus, it is necessary for the currently isolated HFC islands to gradually evolve into an efficient, highly connected, high-speed network. In this article, the authors review HFC networks and establish that they provide a more attractive and promising solution than the alternatives for "last mile" connectivity to the home, such as telephone connections. A list of broadband services are listed that are enabled by the high-speed data capabilities of HFC networks, and the necessary end-to-end infrastructure to support these applications is described, as well as possible evolution and migration paths for developing these end-to-end network architectures.